Expletive Subject of Existential Verb (Feature 64)
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Feature Annotation
By existential verb, we refer to the element corresponding to English there is in existential clauses like There is food on the table.
An expletive subject is any element (word or affix) occurring with the existential verb that occupies the structural position of the subject but has no reference of its own. Typical examples are French il in il y a, German es in es gibt, English there in there is, or Nigerian Pidgin ì in ì get ‘there is’.
If the expletive subject is optional, both values should be selected and the relative importance of both constructions should be indicated.
Additional remarks
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Values
| Value | Value Annotation | |
| 1 | An expletive subject is used | German es gibt (lit. ‘it gives’), where the dummy es can never be omitted; optional in Principense (ê) tê pilha ningê ‘there are many people’ |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | An expletive subject is not used | Papiamentu tin hopi hende ‘there are many people’, where an expletive would be impossible (*e tin hopi hende); optional in Principense (ê) tê pilha ningê ‘there are many people’ |
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